The next European Parliament must prioritise the accelerated deployment of renewable energy and the modernisation and expansion of grid networks.
That is the message from the European Commission’s Vice-President in charge of the Green Deal Maros Sefcovic, ahead of EU citizens going to the polls on June 6-9.
He told delegates at WindEurope 2024 in Bilbao the bloc had to “double down” on meeting end-decade capacity targets as EU member states continue to emerge from “the worst energy crisis since the 1970s”.
He said citizens had “paid through the roof” on energy prices since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Despite the crisis we have laid down strong foundations for the energy transition,” said Sefcovic.
“It is time to transition to the implementation phase and double-down on meeting our ambitions.”
The Slovak politician said a recently agreed EU Grid Action Plan would provide an “enabling framework” to mitigate the bottleneck of projects seeking grid connections.
He added: “It is clear that grids must be top of the agenda as if we invest in renewables but not in the infrastructure that distributes the electricity then we are losing money.
“Energy infrastructure is a pre-requisite for energy security and to modernise our economy.”
He said other key priorities for an incoming EU Parliament should be to create a single market to reward companies for embracing sustainability and using local supply chains. Public procurement could act as a primary lever by no longer “favouring cheaper alternatives coming from far away”.
Sefcovic also wanted to see improved access to long-term funding and finance for member states.